1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains generally to ornamental jewelry inserted and worn by a person or animal after body piercing. More specifically, the present invention pertains to mouth and tongue studs, a type of ornamental jewelry comprised of a metal or plastic bar with removable balls at the ends that can be inserted into an artificially formed fistulous tract previously created in the mouth or tongue of the wearer. The present invention specifically improves upon the prior art mouth and tongue stud by providing a means for dispensing a substance such as chemicals, breath fresheners, pleasant flavors, or medications to the wearer.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Body piercing is a longstanding human tradition and for years many people have worn jewelry such as earrings that are inserted into an artificially created fistulous tract. In recent years, the popularity of other kinds of body pierced jewelry has grown to include nose rings, belly button rings, genital rings, and tongue studs. The typical tongue stud (600) as shown in FIG. 11 consists of a simple solid bar (610), made of metal or plastic that attaches via male threads (612) to female threads (625) of recess (623) in solid ball (620) at each end of the tongue stud (600). Each solid ball (620) is also made of metal or plastic. The shape of solid ball (620) is generally spherical although other shapes such as pyramids and square box shapes have been employed. Furthermore, the bar (610) may be straight, curved, or corkscrew in shape. When in use, the bar (610) rests in a fistulous tract (f) in the wearers tongue (T). It is noted that tongue studs may be mounted in other parts of the wearer's mouth such as the front lower lip. The bar (610) is held in place in the wearers tongue or in a wearer's lip by the solid balls (620). To place or remove the tongue stud (600), at least one of the solid balls (620) must be screwed off of the bar (610) so that the bar (610) may slide out of the fistulous tract (f). The main function of the prior art tongue stud is ornamentation. Another function of the prior art tongue stud is to enhance tactile stimulation during human sexual activities.